Caught in the Middle
by sifuXANA
Summary: A few days taken out of Yumi's life. Set sometime after the discovery of Sector Five. I'm not totally sure where this is going, so suggestions would be nice. Please review and tell me what you think!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko.  
**

**XXX**

Yumi's parents were arguing again last night. They're never very loud about it; that's not their style. It could just have been a hushed conversation, except that Yumi can tell from the tone of their voice and the terseness in the air that it's an argument.

This morning she can't seem to pay attention to anything. William pokes her in the shoulder during math. "Hey," he says. "Didn't you get any sleep last night?"

Except he whispers it, of course. She's been staring out the window and jumps a bit at his voice. "Not really," she sighs. "My parents were at it again."

William leans in a bit closer. In the background, Mr. Weber is explaining something about square roots and getting carried away with his piece of white chalk. "Yelling, huh?" William asks softly from her right.

"No." It surprises her a bit, that that's what he thinks her parents are like. "No, they're always really quiet. But I know they're arguing."

"You just stay awake and listen to them?" he breathes. His shoulder is just barely touching hers. It's making her a little uncomfortable, so she begins copying down the problem on the board. The truth is, Yumi doesn't know if she likes William. She likes being friends with him. But every so often he'll say things that just make her feel awkward, or he'll do something that he probably thinks is like putting a move on her. She doesn't want that. She doesn't want to be fought over.

Maybe William senses her discomfort, because he pulls away, albeit with a little smile. Yumi tries to focus on Mr. Weber, but ends up sneaking a glance at William's notes. He's drawn a little cartoon of her in the margin of her paper. She wants to laugh. He's surprisingly good at art. Really, he's her type of person: they like the same music, the same books and movies. If only he'd stop trying to hook up with her…

The bell rings and he touches her shoulder. "See you tomorrow?" he says hopefully, shouldering his books. Yumi smiles up at him. "Sure," she answers, then turns away to put her things in her bag, blushing a little.

**XXX**

The whole gang is waiting for her when she walks out of the building: Jeremie fixing his glasses and talking distractedly to Odd, Aelita laughing at something one of them said, Ulrich watching her as he counts change from his pocket. "Hey, guys," Yumi greets them. Odd salutes her jokingly and Aelita waves hello. She loves hanging out with her friends, no matter what they're doing. And yet—she can feel Ulrich staring at her back as they walk in secret toward the factory.

_What is he thinking?_ She wonders.

**XXX**

"Okay," Jeremie says as they gather around him. "We'll just do some routine exploration of Sector Five, nothing major. I want to see if we can discover any information about the antivirus. Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita, I'll scan you in a minute. Yumi, stay up here for now. If someone gets devirtualized, I'll send you to Lyoko in their place. Got it?" He pushes his glassed further up his nose, and Yumi glances at him, amused what a good leader he's becoming. She remembers the shy, geeky Jeremie Belpois she used to pass in the halls before she knew him. He's changed a lot. They all have.

On the screen, Yumi watches as her friends are transported to Lyoko, landing in the forest region. "I'm calling up the Transport Orb," Jeremie announces as he types SCIPIO with precision. He leans back, smiling.

"Yumi, I've got to ask you something," he mutters so the others can't hear. "It's about William."

She puts her hands on her hips and scowls lightly at him. Is it so strange that she'd want another friend outside of the group? Someone her age, that she could talk to about _normal_ things? "What about him?" she asks impatiently.

"I haven't talked to the others yet about this. Mostly because—well, Ulrich—"

"Doesn't like William?"

Jeremie hesitates. "Well, yeah. But XANA is getting stronger, whether we like it or not. That's why I was wondering if—if you would ask William to join the group."

"What?" This was definitely not what she was expecting. Instantly, Yumi replied, "No. William's too unreliable. Jeremie, I just don't think that's a good idea."

"We need another Lyoko warrior," he counters logically, as usual. "It's okay. Just think about it, please, Yumi."

"All right."

On Lyoko, Ulrich yells, "Jeremie! Are you paying attention?"

They both giggle at his indignant voice, and Yumi softens. Jeremie turns back to the computer to give instructions on finding the key, and Yumi tunes out, thinking again of William, Hiroki, her parents, her friends.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Code Lyoko. If I did...

**...**

**...  
**

The next morning Yumi rushes downstairs for breakfast (she's overslept, again) and her father is reading the paper idly, waiting for her. He looks up at her sternly. "Yumi, where were you last night?"

_I went out so I wouldn't have to hear you arguing,_ she thinks, but of course that's not true. After the trip to Sector Five, they'd all gone back to Odd and Ulrich's dorm room for a while, just talking. Yumi appreciated those long talks, those moments she spent just hanging out with companions. She snuck back home at a reasonable hour, in her opinion. "I lost track of time," she says. "Sorry."

He frowns at her. "Who were you with, Yumi?"

He thinks it's a boy. That is so like him, like all fathers, really. "I was helping Aelita with her science homework. She just moved here last month." She finishes her oatmeal. "I'm going to be late!" she exclaims, her mouth full.

"William wasn't there?" he continues calmly, as if he has all the time in the world. Yumi stares at him. It wasn't long ago that he used to confront her about Ulrich. She grabs her bag and runs for the door. "No, Dad!" she snaps, and leaves.

Walking to Kadic Academy alone, Yumi does think about Ulrich. She knows he likes her; it's painfully obvious, actually. And she likes him too. Or at least she did. Her feelings are all confused now, and with two boys closing in on her like piranhas she doesn't want to make a decision for fear it'll just be a result of her urgency. She wants time to make this kind of choice. So for the time being, neither Ulrich nor William is getting closure. Not until they learn to give her some space.

It isn't really Ulrich's fault, though. Yumi thinks of the days when Hiroki used to tease her mercilessly about her 'boyfriend'. Oh, how she'd wanted to pummel that kid! He might not pull that one anymore, but her brother definitely never grew up.

She joins Aelita and Odd before school. They're discussing Mrs. Hertz's puffy gray hair. Yumi can't help but join in as she approaches them.

"It looks like she glued cotton balls to her head," Odd snorts. Aelita is laughing, but she looks pained, probably not wanting to say anything rude about a teacher. Ulrich was right to call her Princess. It's just her nature.

"And then spray-painted it gray," Yumi adds as she stops between them. Her friends giggle. Odd barely comes up to her chin and Aelita is no taller, so she feels a bit like a towering older sister come to scold them.

"Or maybe some low-flying clouds decided they liked her."

Yumi whirls. It's just Ulrich. He's smiling crookedly, and it's not really like him to crack those kinds of jokes, but she smiles. The kid has a sense of humor. Who knew?

Odd puts an arm around Ulrich's shoulder, drawing him into the circle. "Hey Ulrich! What's black and white and likes to go sledding?"

Ulrich rolls his eyes.

"A penguin!" Odd cackles. Yumi resists the urge to smack him as Aelita folds her arms and says, "I don't get it."

"Don't worry about it, Aelita," Yumi mutters. "Odd's jokes never make sense."

"I've got one for you," Ulrich interjects. "What's purple and pink but going to be black and blue in a few seconds?"

Odd squirms and tries to change the subject. Fortunately for him, the bell rings.

**...**

Yumi sits by herself in history class. This is the one period where she's generally bored out of her mind, so she's taken to doodling on scraps of paper while she listens to the drone of a lecture about the spread of electricity. Today she finds herself dreading having to sit by William last period.

She wonders if her parents are going to divorce.

If they did, would her dad go back to Japan?

Yumi was born in Japan and spent nearly eleven years living there. She's almost fifteen now. By this time, her memories of her birthplace have faded, and sometimes she wants to go back, if only for a visit. She has this daydream where she gets her pilot's license and flies over Japan, scanning the landscape for her old home.

She lived in an apartment in the middle of Tokyo. It was always a little cramped, but Yumi felt closer to her family then. She remembers hearing the hum and stir of the city every night from her window, a sound as familiar to her as the pattern of her own breathing. It was never quiet—especially not after Hiroki was born, Yumi thinks with a smile.

She's suddenly filled with nostalgia. A bustling city, Tokyo always felt like an explosion of people and color. Images and recollections flash through her head—taking the metro through Tokyo to visit her father's office or to grocery shop with her mother; passing the fish vendors and vegetable sellers and the stalls filled with treats. Getting off at the Shinjuku station to go to the movies with her friends, eating popcorn or baked fish. Just standing on the tatami mat, staring out the window into the lights and the displays and _everything_.

When the Ishiyama family moved to France, that was when she started becoming rebellious. The person she used to be puzzles her now.

And in a couple hours she'll have to sit by William in math class and he'll probably try to flirt with her again and she doesn't know if she can handle that right now-

Just then Mr. DuPont calls on Yumi, and she only barely avoids embarrassment.

**...**

Ulrich's waiting for Yumi when she comes out of her history class. He looks cocky and not at all himself. Opening his mouth, he begins to say something to her (probably something witty, something he thinks William would say), but she takes him by the arm before he can.

She's so tired of the pressure.

"Listen, Ulrich. Stop trying, okay?" Yumi tells him, trying to keep the edge of impatience and annoyance out of her voice. "Stop acting like someone you're not. You don't have to impress me."

It was probably the wrong thing to say. Ulrich may be insecure, but he's got his pride to. "I wasn't trying to impress you!" he snaps, as color rises to his cheeks. "I've got to go, okay?" He turns to leave.

"Ulrich, wait." He's ignoring her, damn it. "Stop being such a baby!" she yells after him. Even that doesn't get him and his stupid pride.

"Forget it," Yumi grumbles. She'll just find Jeremie and Aelita and forget about Ulrich and the sentence she was waiting to say to him. _I like you the way you are._

**...**

Sometimes she wonders. If Ulrich and William weren't having an old fashioned girlfriend-hunting contest, would they dislike each other so much? They wouldn't be friends. But would they, just maybe, get along?

She doesn't want Ulrich to think she likes William better. And she doesn't want William to think she's all his.

{([She just wants to be their friends])}

**...**

That night Yumi has a dream about being stuck in a box.

But when she gets out there's just another wall.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Code Lyoko...

**...**

**...**

At lunch the next day, Yumi meets her friends for lunch as usual. She and Ulrich have been skirting around each other. It's almost as if their conversation yesterday never happened…but not quite.

So she sits here teasing Odd as he scarfs down his fifth helping of gluey mashed potatoes, surreptitiously glancing at Ulrich. Jeremie and Aelita are still having a very involved conversation about something mathematical that's beyond Yumi's comprehension. And Ulrich—Ulrich is laughing with her at Odd, but there's something a bit hurt in his smile.

What is _wrong_ with boys?

She can't deny she's enjoying herself, though. Watching Odd sneakily devour everyone's potatoes (and they were pretty awful) is always entertaining. The way he talks with his mouth full isn't, but that's another story.

Jeremie stands up abruptly. "I've had enough of this food," he declares grandly, with a glance at Odd. "I'm just going up to my room for a minute to check on Xana, okay?"

"I'll come with you," offers Aelita. She and Jeremie flush a little, and Odd raises an eyebrow with a messy smirk. The two of them stand up to go, while purple cat boy steals the remains of their brownies.

Finally Odd sits back, satisfied. "Ohh," he groans. "I'm so _full_."

"What do you expect, Odd?" Ulrich asks. He can't hide the fact that he's amused. Yumi can see through him so easily.

"I'm going outside," Odd retorts. "I need some fresh air." He winks at Yumi as he stands up.

Her mouth almost drops open. I'm going to kill that kid someday, she thinks, but all she can do is watch his back as he struts away.

Glancing again at Ulrich, she pretends to check her phone. Could this be any more awkward? There is nothing but silence across the table. Finally Ulrich says, "Do you want to, uh—get out of here?"

She nods. Ulrich's face is almost apologetic. Maybe they can forget this ever happened…?

They talk a little as they head out of the cafeteria, but both of them sense the thin rift that's formed between them.

**…**

"So we can determine from this triangle with two sides of equal length that the hypotenuse is…"

_Bzzzzz._

Yumi's phone vibrates to life at the table, and she has to turn away from William before answering.

"Hello?" she whispers.

Jeremie's voice hisses in her ear. "Yumi, Xana has activated a tower. I haven't detected any attacks in the real world, but just to be safe…"

"Okay, I'll be over in a minute."

"And Yumi, let Ulrich know, huh?"

"Oh." She pauses. "All right, Jeremie." She hangs up, and before she has to answer William's questioning face, she raises her hand and asks if she can go to the infirmary.

Yumi doesn't know how many times she's used this excuse, but it's worked every time so far.

She darts out of class and calls Ulrich as she runs.

"Ulrich, Xana attack."

"Okay," he says calmly on the other end. "I'm coming over."

And that's all.

**…**

Grabbing a skateboard from against the wall, Yumi flings it out and jumps onto it. It's a good thing she's so fit from studying Pencak Silat. She remembers when she found out that Ulrich practiced that particular fighting style too. Even when she lived in Japan, it wasn't the most popular martial art: most people studied Judo or Karate. Yumi prefers Pencak Silat by far. The sharp and mystical style, reminding her at times of a coiling snake or a pouncing tiger, feels so right to her.

Her martial arts training definitely helped her adjust to fighting on Lyoko. Even though she'd never used fans to fight before. Ulrich and his dumb sword had it a lot easier.

She climbs onto the bridge and races to the elevator, swinging down like Tarzan on a jungle vine. Out of breath, Yumi hits the button in the elevator and counts the seconds as she's transported to the computer room. Or whatever Jeremie calls it.

She steps out to find Jeremie, Aelita and Odd staring at the screen, perplexed looks on all of their faces.

"What is it?" Yumi asks. A shivery itch crawls up her spine.

Jeremie clears his throat. "This is going to sound weird," he warns. "But the tower is gone."

"Gone?"

"It's not showing up on the screen anymore," he explains.

There is a long pause. Yumi frowns. "Shouldn't we go check it out?"

"Um, yeah. It's just—I don't trust this." Jeremie is looking nervous, fiddling with his glasses, his fingers twitching as they hover over the keyboard.

"Since when have we ever trusted Xana? Come on Odd, Aelita. Let's take a trip to Lyoko."

"All right." Jeremie swallows. "Go on down."

A minute or so later, Yumi steps into the scanner. Being virtualized is definitely not her favorite thing in the world. The feeling is almost as if she's being taken apart and then slowly reformed, and once she gets to Lyoko, it takes a few minutes before she can shake the sensation that her body is only loosely held together. She's gotten used to virtualization, though. Devirtualization, on the other hand…

She lands on Lyoko next to Aelita and Odd. Jeremie took them to the Mountain region, and all around her she sees the telltale formations, some floating ominously through the mist. Odd flicks his tail around as he surveys the scene. Yumi has always wondered what it would feel like to have a tail.

"Jeremie?" Yumi asks. "Is Ulrich there yet?"

His voice floats down from all around her as if he's a god here on Lyoko. "No. You did tell him, didn't you?"

"Yes." Yumi takes out a fan and practices aiming it, her unconscious habit since she doesn't have a tail.

"Hey, Jeremie!" shouts Odd. "You wouldn't happen to have some sort of hint about the direction we go in, would you?"

"Hang on," he replies. Aelita looks around nervously, as if she's afraid a monster is going to eat her. This _is_ Lyoko, after all. Things like that do happen.

"Jeremie?" Odd calls again.

There's the sound of a very familiar groan. "Are you ready for this, guys? Because you are not going to like it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Code Lyoko._

**...**

**...**

"Just what we needed," Odd says under his breath.

He paces, and Yumi looks out once again at the barren landscape. She doesn't see a tower, but they don't always spot it at first. Right?

She draws her other fan, just in case.

"Xana has hidden the tower," Jeremie says. "And I don't mean he's made it invisible. He's stored the data and actually _hidden_ it. I don't believe this! How are we going to find it now?"

Odd wrinkles his nose. "Couldn't we just go to Sector Five?"

Above, there's a sound of euphoria. "Of course! Odd, you're a genius!"

Jeremie's doubtful proclamation only causes Odd to look puzzled, while Yumi cracks up. "Really?" she says, amused.

"Never mind that," he says brusquely. "Hang in there while I transport you."

Odd salutes the empty air. In just a moment the transport orb appears, and all three of them prepare for the turbulent ride to Sector Five.

**…**

As always, the orb drops them off at the core of Sector Five, nicknamed 'the arena'. The three warriors are deposited in the middle of a large Xana symbol, which always creeps Yumi out. It looks like a giant eyeball.

Clutching his stomach, Odd falls to his knees dramatically. Yumi rolls her eyes but helps him up.

Sector Five: it takes her breath away even though it's unspeakably dangerous and pretty much out to get her. Xana's inner workings make a kaleidoscope of data falling through the air like whitewater. It's intricate and precise. She's always amazed at how easily this sector can rearrange itself into complicated mazes, configured traps. But naturally, it's never a good thing to go on and on about the beauty of something when it'll end up killing you if you don't pay attention.

"Any word from Ulrich yet?" she calls to Jeremie.

"Nothing."

Yumi tries to hold it back, but she's starting to get worried. What if Ulrich has fallen victim to a Xana attack, and that's why he hasn't shown up, or called? The possibility eats away at her and she almost tunes out Jeremie's voice as he instructs them toward the key.

"It should be straight ahead, about fifty feet in front of you. But watch out. I know our friend Xana well, and he's always got a trick or two up his sleeve."

Sure enough, they can all see the key, staring at them temptingly from across the room. Yumi swallows. The path looks stable, and neither she nor Jeremie has spotted any of the usual monsters yet. Are they hiding? Or maybe there aren't any, because Xana has thought up something that doesn't require any extra help. And then the Scyphozoa will swoop down and steal Aelita's memory, and they'll all be done for.

Positive thoughts, Yumi. Postitive thoughts.

She turns toward her friends. "I'll go first, Aelita in the middle, Odd last. Hopefully we'll be able to spot whatever Xana has planned." Drawing her fans, she takes a hesitant step forward. Nothing earth-shattering happens. Yumi figures that's a good sign.

"When things are quiet, that's when I start to worry," Odd grumbles.

The countdown begins from above. "Two and a half minutes," warns Jeremie.

"Maybe," Aelita suggests, "we should move faster."

Yumi breaks into a run, and that's when all hell breaks loose.

Before she can even react, a block of the floor she's just reached slides into the ground. She just barely has time to jump from it before it dematerializes completely in a shower of fluttering white. Jeremie is probably biting his nails like mad. It's a terrible habit of his.

"Jump!" she yells to Aelita and Odd. The two make it over the first gab just as a second appears, and Yumi has to grab Odd's hands to keep him from slipping. They race towards the key side by side. But it doesn't look like they're going to make it. Desperation fuels Yumi as she dashes, sidestepping the sinking chunks of floor—

She's not careful enough.

Once again, Yumi is grabbing the edge, trying not to fall. This _always_ happens to her. She bites the inside of her lip and hopes that Odd and Aelita keep going. Maybe they'll make it.

"Jeremie," she groans.

"I'm bringing you in." He sounds nervous, which is not very reassuring.

Yumi grits her teeth. There's no time, she thinks. Below her the floor has disappeared. If she drops, it will be straight down into a sea of binary. Probably just like the digital sea, which she's actually fallen into once before.

The stillness was overwhelming. It was like being suspended in a soundproof tank, unable to move or speak or even see. And gradually she began to forget: her name, her age, everything she knew and loved.

She doesn't want that experience again.

"Thirty seconds," announces Jeremie. "Yumi, just hang in there. The program is almost ready."

Her fingers choose that very moment to become very slippery.

_Not this time._

But finally she sees her virtual body begin to dissolve, all color melting away from her outline, a cascade of blank fireworks flying from her. "Thanks, Jeremie," she whispers in relief.

Virtualization feels like being taken apart and then stuck back together, like a rough child's puzzle. Devirtualization—Yumi can't even describe it. Basically, it sucks. She wakes up a rag doll curled in her scanner, always with the air choked out of her lungs.

Heart pounding, she gets in the elevator. Jeremie is muttering to himself upstairs as she walks unsteadily over to him. "Did they get it?" She asks him breathlessly. "Did they get the key?"

He nods, obviously a bit preoccupied. "Aelita is getting the tower's information right now. Hurry up, hurry up…" She was right, he is biting his nails. "And I've been trying to reach Ulrich, but no luck. This is bad."

Yumi takes a deep breath. "Okay. I'm going to find him."

"Okay. Go! Quickly."

Instilled with a new sense of urgency, she sprints out of the factory.

**…**

Yumi hasn't known Ulrich that long. A year and a half, two years maybe. The first time they properly met, she kicked his butt at Pencak Silat and he wouldn't even bow to her afterwards. That was her first run in with Ulrich's pride.

It feels like she's known him forever, though.

She's gotten to know William pretty well, too. But not the way she knows Ulrich. And that's always puzzled Yumi.

Here she is running across the bridge, ducking into the tunnel, leaping onto her skateboard. The sun will go down in about an hour, she has to find Ulrich, but William always edges into her mind somehow. William and Ulrich and their stupid feud.

Maybe Yumi's not very fast, but right now she feels like the wind.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Code Lyoko. Unfortunately. _

**...**

**...**

The sun is dipping down with a reddish sheen. Yumi's heart races as she ducks through the field toward the school, searching at the same time for any trace of what's happened. Xana's been becoming a bit predictable. But even the fact that Xana has probably possessed someone doesn't mean she can relax.

Her boots skim the grass as she runs, half out of breath, toward the classrooms, hoping Ulrich's okay. She turns half-consciously toward the dorms. It's probably a good idea to check Ulrich and Odd's room first. Hopefully Odd's cleaned up a little so she won't feel like she's wading through a thick, unrelenting ocean.

Yumi is sprinting up the stairs when Jim comes around a corner and spots her. "Hey!" he yells, gruff as usual. She ducks into a room to avoid him.

A second later, she realizes she's unwittingly ended up in Sissi's room. The land of pink and ruffles. Despite the desperate situation she's in, Yumi can't resist looking around just for a second. Sissi's dorm is like another world—full of evidence that the principal's daughter is practically a princess. She can even spot a pink diary lying open on the bed, like Sissi was interrupted before she could write.

_Interrupted?_

But no, an open diary and an empty room don't mean anything. Nothing happened here. Ulrich is the one she's looking for and she's got to focus and find him.

She darts out of the room, cautiously looking both ways for Jim, and then takes the stairs two at a time. Ulrich's room is down the hall on the boy's floor, and that's the direction she goes. Nothing major could have happened if Jim is still on the prowl, Yumi reminds herself, trying to still the unreasonable panic rising in her chest.

The door to Ulrich and Odd's room is wide open.

Inside there are definite signs of a struggle. Or it could just be Odd's usual messy habits. But a lamp is broken, fragments of pale glass littering the floor like a haphazard mosaic. Undoubtedly a struggle. Where is Ulrich? He hasn't left any clues as to where he is. His attacker didn't take him to the factory. His attacker didn't leave him here. Unless…

Yumi's cell phone rings and she jumps.

Her caller I.D. says the call is from Arthur Bennet, a kid she's never heard of before in her life. And this is certainly no time to be taking calls. But impulsively Yumi answers.

"Hello?" Her voice sounds vacant to her, like an echo.

"Yumi!" It's Ulrich's voice, out of breath and sounding anxious. "What's going on? I'm—"

She tries to calm him down. It's hard to understand a word he's saying. "Ulrich, where are you?"

"In the bathrooms," he grunts. "Xana possessed Sissi, and who knew, but she's got arms of lead and more muscles than a sumo wrestler—"

Yumi can't help laughing. Even under pressure, Ulrich knows how to layer his words with dark humor. She says, "I'm coming down there, Ulrich. I'll be just a minute." An image of Sissi as a sumo wrestler, crushing Ulrich under her enormous weight, flies into her mind as she runs toward the bathrooms.

**…**

Yumi is used to living at home. Consequently, she's also used to having her own bathroom, and maybe that's why the ones at Kadic Academy weird her out a little. Sure, sometimes Hiroki will get toothpaste on the floor or forget to flush the toilet (ew), but that's nothing compared to a whole floor of maybe thirty boys using the same restroom.

There seems to be a perpetual coating of water on the floor, and someone's left their boxers draped across one of the stalls. Yumi walks gingerly past the row of sinks, listening. Finally she hears a yell coming from the direction of the showers.

Sissi has Ulrich in a chokehold, blue energy racing through her arms, her whole form blurry and inconsistent. Yumi hates the way people look when they're possessed by Xana. They look like they've been cut out of an old movie and placed into the real world, the way their bodies shiver with distortion every now and then. The purple or blue electricity stuff they've got in their hands is even worse.

She looks around frantically for a weapon, but this is the shower room. What's she going to do, spray Sissi with cold water? So Yumi simply leaps on top of her, wrenching her arms away from Ulrich's neck.

Possessed-Sissi growls and Yumi steps away from her. The mark of Xana flashes in her eyes. Yumi catches her breath and channels her Pencak Silat training—she'll skip the bowing and move right into her technique.

She kicks the other girl in the chest and Possessed-Sissi goes down. But it doesn't take her long to get right back up, uninjured but madder. Yumi skirts around her, landing a couple ineffectual punches before Sissi picks her up by the shirt and throws her against the wall.

Yumi's vision goes fuzzy. She tries to sort out up from down, but the whole room is spinning and she has to close her eyes. From somewhere, Ulrich makes a sound of distress. Possessed-Sissi has probably donned her traditional sumo outfit and is getting ready to kick his butt, or rather, squash it. Her eyes fly open. She charges the possessed girl, but Sissi spins around and shocks her with that weird blue energy stuff. It's like having your brain fried, basically. She goes down again.

At least she's delayed Possessed-Sissi from crushing Ulrich. Right?

Yumi can vaguely hear her phone coming to life in her pocket, but the whole world looks vague and she can't make enough sense of anything to answer it.

She's been in this situation before, too many times to count. And every time Jeremie and her friends have pulled through. And every time the obstacles got harder and harder. Sometimes Yumi finds herself thinking that a point will come when they'll simply fail. Xana will finally get the better of them, defeat them for the last time. And will they be able to get back up?

And Ulrich. She doesn't want him to forget—

Possessed-Sissi seems to be leaving. Probably to wreck the factory, beat up Jeremie, something like that.

Yumi said earlier that she's gotten to know Ulrich well. The other side is that Ulrich knows her well too. He probably knows her better than anyone else, even her own parents. But he still doesn't know her well enough to know just how she feels about him.

How long has it been? Hours, minutes? Yumi tries to pick herself up, to go see if he's okay, but it feels like time is frozen in place. She wants him to be okay. Through all of this. No matter what's happening or what comes. She can't keep dragging this out, trying to dodge the worst case scenario. Because she lives in a world where every one of those scenarios _could_ come true.

And finally—maybe she was doubting they would pull through—she feels time freeze for real in the way that it does, and she can finally look up to see the damage that's been done.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Code Lyoko._

**...**

**...**

"I wonder why Xana chose Sissi to attack Ulrich," Odd muses, stretching his legs out on Jeremie's bed.

"Get your dirty toes off my pillow!" Jeremie responds.

Odd and Aelita had managed to recover the information about the hidden tower, Jeremie told Yumi earlier. And even though Odd was devirtualized by a gang of Blocks soon after, Aelita had gone ahead and deactivated the tower.

Now the five friends are lounging in Jeremie's room like they usually do after a successful mission. Odd is making himself at home. Aelita is perched on the edge of the bed, smiling at Jeremie, who is sitting back on the chair by his computer. Ulrich is slowly chewing on a piece of candy. He keeps glancing over at Yumi as if to make sure she's still there. Yumi's just drinking it all in, reassessing her position, like she does every time.

"When you told me Sissi was attacking you," Yumi begins, "I got this great image of a sumo-wrestler Sissi." She doesn't know why she just said that. But Odd seems to get a kick out of that.

"You should tell her, Yumi! I'm sure she'd love to know that in the future she'll pack on 100 pounds and start wearing a loincloth!" Odd giggles at himself, something he does quite often. The kid thinks he's hilarious.

There's no denying though, Odd lightens the mood.

"I should get back to class," Jeremie says nervously. The lack of return to the past trips really take a toll on Jeremie. He's a little afraid of becoming known as the bad student who always skips class. Yumi has to agree with him there; it's just like the way she says "I have to go to the infirmary," every time. They just have to hope that no one catches on.

Aelita stands up too. "I don't want to make Mrs. Hertz angry."

No one else makes a move to get up, and Jeremie raises an eyebrow. "Have it your way, slackers," he grins, and grabs his books. "Just close the door on your way out."

A few minutes of laughter go by until Odd realizes who else is in the room and stands up with a cocky smile. "I suppose I'd better get back to class too. Who knows, one of these days they might just call me a bad student!"

"Since when do _you_ care about being a bad student?" Ulrich asks suspiciously.

"Uh—since—never mind!" Odd squeaks and leaves the room very quickly.

Ulrich snorts. "What a liar."

Yumi smiles, only a little awkwardly. "That's just the way he is, I guess."

"Yeah."

They fall quiet quickly and stare at the ceiling.

Finally, Ulrich clears his throat and speaks up. "Maybe I should—"

"No," she cuts him off. "No, Ulrich, listen. The other day—when I—look, I know that you—" _I know that you like me and that you and William are competing over me and that I'm not really helping but I_—she can't say this in words, because that will make it true. But she gets the feeling that he knows what she means. "I'm sorry, Ulrich. I didn't mean it that way, I was just stressed out. What I meant was, I like you the way you are." There, she's said it. _I like you the way you are._ A sentence that could go any way you wanted it, though Yumi knows just which way she means. She gives it to Ulrich and she's finished.

He just looks at her and they both blush. "No, it's—it was my fault," he says quietly. "I was being stupid."

"It's okay," Yumi says carefully. "Ulrich, I know—I know you're frustrated, but I want you to know. It's—" _It's always been you, I think_. But 'I think' doesn't make for great sentences. "I don't like William more than you, okay? Don't be so insecure."

For a second she thinks she's done it again—wounded Ulrich's pride. But it turns out that Yumi doesn't give him enough credit. His quiet face springs into a smile, and he moves from his spot on the floor to the bed, to sit beside her. "Okay," he says.

Hurriedly, as if they've synchronized it, they both start talking about something else, about anything else. And it's _fun_. Neither of them realize how late it's gotten until Jeremie comes back to his room, hand on hip, and asks if they plan to come to dinner at all.

Yumi just feels relieved because she's gotten the words out. And at the same time, it's not a commitment. She feels much better.

And yet, this doesn't mean she's done being caught in the middle.

**…**

The next day in math class Yumi's actually happy to sit next to William. He's drawing a cartoon of Mr. Weber to the drone of acute triangles and rectangles and whatever. Coming to life on William's page, the cartooned Mr. Weber resembles a little walrus, with his drooping mustache and short stature. "Listen up, children!" cartoon Mr. Weber squeaks—a walrus with a falsetto. Yumi has to try very hard not to laugh.

She's content sitting with William and his mad art skills and his sense of humor. If only things could stay like this. Maybe not forever, but at least long enough that she could enjoy it.

Then, William has to blow it all to pieces. He puts his pencil down, leans in close, and whispers, "Where did you go yesterday?"

Yumi shakes her head, hoping he'll leave her alone, but William is persistent. "You got a phone call and then you left," he says under his breath.

She thinks about what Jeremie asked her a few days ago, and then about William. William the "not a rebel, just a little rebellious". She has to tell him sometime. But does it have to be now? Does it have to ruin the happy feeling she's got now?

"Please, William," she whispers back. "I swear I'll tell you someday. But for now, please just cover for me."

Maybe someday she'll tell him, but not today.

She didn't give Ulrich enough credit and she hasn't given William enough credit either. He's a loyal friend, even if he is a tad unpredictable sometimes. "Okay," he affirms with a nod. She smiles back and he flips his paper over. He covers it with his hand until he's done.

It's a sassy Yumi cartoon, tall and thin like a stick, dressed like a ninja, one hand on her hip. She's scolding a little William cartoon, at least two feet shorter than her and cowering in her shadow. "Back, bad William!" the Yumi cartoon admonishes. "Your nose does not belong in my business!" The real William looks over at her, and Yumi grins at him, and for the moment, everything is okay.

**…**

There's no denying that soon enough she'll have to make a choice. She'll have to fend off one of the two wild animals that keep circling around her. She can't put this off forever; she can't choose both of them. But for now, Yumi pushes this conflict to the back of her mind, because for now she's able to enjoy herself. And so she'll savor it until it goes.


End file.
